Cain and Able
by Shahrezad1
Summary: The blonde abruptly spoke, blue eyes direct and searing as they peered into their dark opposites, "so when were you going to tell me?" Things aren't always what they seem. JebXAz A one-shot.


**Cain and Able**

By Shahrezad1

Summary: The blonde abruptly spoke, blue eyes direct and searing as they peered into their dark opposites, "so when were you going to tell me?" Things aren't always what they seem. JebXAz

Disclaimer: Pshaw. As if I actually owned any of this. I'm not that creative. Just a mirror's image and a magnifying glass created to reflect what is and what can be. ;)

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The knock which came at ten sands after the hour was unexpected. A series of three firm raps which, when placed together, were direct and forward but not over-forceful; civil, and unhurried. But demanding attention.

The dark-haired figure frowned slightly, glad that it hadn't changed out of uniform, and made sure to check both the weapon it had on hand and a garnet ring before opening the warped wooden door a crack. Only to sigh in sudden relief.

"Captain Cain! What can I do for you, Sir?" Instantly at attention the young soldier saluted the commanding officer, then settled into a pose that had become almost second nature: shoulders pulled back, legs straight and parallel, eyes gazing forward. The short coattails at the back of the waist-length jacket marked him a Tin Man in training; a Copper, or so they'd been coined almost jokingly by the newly returned Princess DG.

The rough flat just two streets shy of the Sin District marked the cadet as someone of poorer status. All trainees had to find their own places to reside until the old Tin Man military barracks was rebuilt, an unfortunate side-effect of the evil Sorceress' reign. But it was a small price to pay for a return to order.

"At ease, Able. I just wanted a word with you. If I may?"

"Of course, Sir. Please come in."

The man who walked in was little older than the one who had answered the door, although both were slim in height and the latter as shaggily blonde as the former was dark-haired. They had one thing in common: loss, a detail they didn't discuss much. But it was something that had immediately created a bond of friendship between the trainer and the trainee.

And within that bond Able could see that something was bothering the commanding officer. A detail which worried the young soldier.

After all, if being a rebel leader had taught Jebediah Cain anything it was to keep his cool in the face of pressure, anxiety and insurmountable odds. If Cain was anxious, then Able should be too.

"Would you like some muglug, Sir?" it was all that he really had to share, unfortunately, and was cold to boot, but hospitalities had to be met. It was an almost ingrained tradition here in the Shining City Upon the Hill. And it seemed to be the only thing that regular civilians and soldiers could seem to agree on: a sense of normalcy through the barest of social niceties. Therefore the drink, and the visible motion which was made toward the room's single chair.

Cain waved both offers away distractedly, "thank you Able. But no, I'm fine. What I have to say shouldn't take long."

"Alright, Sir," Able set down the pitcher gratefully. The youth had been saving what was left for breakfast anyway, what with the fact that pay day didn't come for another day, at least.

And then the two soldiers were left standing. The brunette younger in experience alone.

"Sir? What can I help you with?"

Jeb ran a rough hand over his face and Able realized belatedly that the Captain appeared to have a shadow of a beard, lightly blonde and glinting off of his rough-cut chin. His eyes had circles under them, and underneath the edges of the longer version of the leather Tin Man coat his shirt was casual, partially unbuttoned, and while tucked in didn't appear to have his usual vest over it. He was missing his typical red kerchief at the throat, too.

"…Sir?"

The blonde abruptly spoke, blue eyes direct and searing as they peered into their dark opposites, "so when were you going to tell me?"

"What are you-?"

"Were you going to wait until graduation? Or maybe ten years on the beat?"

"Sir, I don't know what you're talking a-!"

"You don't, _Samuel?_ Or is that even your name? I feel like I've been training a ghost who'll become a revenant once I turn my back," Jeb gritted out through tight teeth, hands clenching and unclenching rapidly. Across from him the younger soldier fell into silence, turning paler if that was even possible. Cain nodded grimly, then girded himself and stepped forward to confront the situation, "who are you, Able? Or are you even a man at all?"

A tell-tale gasp was torn from his underling's throat, and a harsh swallow followed as the Copper could no longer look Jeb in the eye. The ceiling, the floor, the table; anything but Jeb.

"That's what I thought."

"H-how-how did you guess?" the light tenor that he was accustomed to wobbled into a higher register before returning to normal, and for an instant Jeb's ire cooled. Although the young soldier's presence was a lie, this wasn't a man—_woman_—who seemed out to cause mischief. Therefore they must have disguised themselves for a reason. And the person Jeb had been raised _to be_ called out that if his guess was correct that he should be going easier on his-_her_ emotions.

But no. She had lied to the crown and to her governing authority. Unless something was done she would be expelled from the ranks immediately, and if confrontation was the trick then that's what he would do. Even if the anxiety of the situation was tearing him apart.

"I was first suspicious when we were in the royal stables. Stormy chose you over all the rest."

Confused brown eyes finally regained their contact with his harsh gaze, "what does that…?"

"She's half unicorn, and has only ever had female riders. But I wasn't sure, so…" Jeb shifted anxiously, blushing himself now, "I watched you. Followed you."

"_SIR?_" A jaw drop made him all the more uncomfortable, and his clenching fists shoved themselves into deep coat pockets.

"You walk like a woman. You never visit the Sin District except to drop off donations and clothing. The articles you fix and alter have embroidery on them. A _noblewoman's_ talent, _and_, " he paused a moment, then smiled triumphantly, blush summarily defeated, "you just admitted it. I wasn't sure until tonight, so I decided to confront you."

"Oh, Ozma," she swore dismally, still in her slightly rougher man's voice, then fell back against the unpapered wooden wall. Through the bare support at her back she could feel the distant shake of a Vertical Aquarian Train Accelerator pass by in its tube of viscous green anti-gravitational gel. The thing sometimes kept her awake at night with its constant passes all night long. But that was the price you paid for living in the bad part of town.

Jeb finally, finally took the seat she'd proffered him, turning it so that he could face where she leaned, "Able…why did you do it? Why lie to me, your commanding officer? To everyone?"

She wouldn't look him in the eye, and he wondered for a second if that was the only part of her that was real. The slim form was as tall as a moderate man, the hair cut short in a youthful mess of spiky hair. Stubble adorned his/her cheeks that didn't seem fake and the chin was firm with just the slightest bit of a cleft, hinting that it would be strengthened into a more square jaw line as 'he' got older. But there still existed the barest hint of femininity in face and form.

It was all in the actions, Jeb had found; the rhythm. He'd learned that watching Longcoats over the years and keeping an eye out for spies. He'd even known of the Advisor Glitch/Ambrose and his talents before they'd been demonstrated. And he'd been surprised that his father _hadn't_ known about them first (after having heard the tale from the horse's mouth).

Able was a woman. He'd been willing to bet his command if not his life on it. And it looks like he'd been right. Although he still didn't know why.

"Able, your commanding officer just asked you a question."

She started in surprise, then straightened from where she was still standing. Then nodded. For even after this confrontation she was still a Tin Man—Tin Woman, really. And her training had taught her to obey and serve if nothing else.

"Women aren't allowed to be Tin Men, Captain Cain. It's not permitted. The same way they aren't allowed to enter the Wiz University. I wanted to be given a chance to prove myself."

He stared at her in shock, head thrown back. _What?_ Women weren't allowed to be Tin Men; who'd decided that load of excrement? Some of the bravest rebels he'd ever seen had been women; mothers, daughters, sisters and even children pulled in to fight for the cause.

A sudden urge to read up on the matter of his own peoples' laws came over him, and he regretted for a moment that the only research he'd been doing lately had been on the training aspect of being a Tin Man, rather than the admittance.

There simply hadn't been enough time, what with the Queen being newly instated as ruler of the O.Z. and everyone scrambling for some security. Longcoats had to be rounded up and tried for their crimes, prisoners of war and Azkadellia's 'traitors' set free from their cages. And then there had been the repairing of the Central City, from a magical cleansing of the outer appearance to an inner cleansing of the city itself.

It would never return to its previous glory and, yes, the Sin District would never truly disappear. But they had cut back on its margins. Instated deals with its Scarlet Ladies and Thieves guilds. Made inroads on the Assassin's Guild and stomped out the buying and selling of the Witch's parasitic, addictive vapors, made from the bark of dead Papay trees (another task DG had been occupied with: the reawakening of said vegetation) wherein deadly bacteria resided.

But to hear her say that the laws themselves were against her—a good soldier and a hard worker despite her deceit—made him want to strike out at something.

But apparently there was more she needed to say.

Able ducked her head in shame, a slight glimmer of tears disconcerting what with her mannish appearance, "And I wanted a second chance. To make up for what I've done wrong."

_What she'd done wrong?_

"Just who are you, Able?" the question came out as a whisper, but she reacted as though he'd struck her. And Jeb was up and across the room in an instant, with Able trying to burrow his/her back into the woodwork.

"I am the scapegoat. The sacrificial lamb," her smile was tremulous, voice choked, and as she sobbed out a laugh he thought he could hear her real voice coming out from underneath, "but at least I'm willing and _Able._"

His restraint broke. The blonde had his arms pressed to either side of her face, hands flat skin to skin as his eyes closed and he sought out the differences between what he could see and what I knew to be there. No stubble; instead smooth skin, as soft as the skin of Papay fruit. Long eyelashes, curved lips. High cheekbones and a strong jaw line, yes, but no cleft in the chin. Her eyebrows were carefully arched and he knew that his assumption that she was noble was correct by the angles of her face and the softness of her cheeks. The common folk were rougher, tougher, more calloused. He'd seen the blisters first develop on her hands when training began, but had taken for granted that it was a regular side effect of work. Not that she probably hadn't toiled heavily a single day in her life.

Which made him admire her all the more for it, despite his ire at her deception. Why wouldn't she just show her face, by all things Great and Powerful!

"Show me what you look like. I need to know the truth."

He muttered those words still with his eyes closed, for he knew that he wouldn't be able to handle it if he saw another untruth come from her. Not from one of his pupils; men and, apparently, women he'd grown close to like family. The only family he'd really had, after his mother's death and his father's return from the grave. Soldiers only had each other to rely on, and it had been this that had made for the Queen's decision to make him head of the brigade. He was the best, his men the most loyal. If he could instill that into the tarnished Tin Men then the city could be more fully saved.

Something that even a pretty green stone and a naïve little girl couldn't do.

Able shook her head, a whimper growing between her clenched teeth. Under his hands he could feel a trickle of tears slip down her cheeks to moisten his harsh, battle-scarred hands, and something leapt in his chest cavity.

He'd had a harder and harder time around her on the beat as he'd started becoming suspicious of her gender. Noticing things about the young soldier that were sweet and undemanding. And her movements really had been a telling point—the sway of hips and waist accustomed to being restrained in corset and bustle. He could see it and it had made him uneasy and uncomfortable. But if he could see that she was clearly female, then things would be different. He didn't know how, but different.

"_Please._"

Movement caught his attention, and he realized suddenly that Able was removing her ring; a family piece he/she had said she never took off. And suddenly it was as though a burden had been removed, her shoulders dropping and her form becoming smaller. Drawing within herself protectively.

And then Jeb was kissing her, the woman whose name and image he didn't really know. The student whom he'd practiced with, tested, and found able for battle. The liar whose deception had angered him and yet made him demand for truth. And now the woman who had revealed a tiny part of her own secrets to him. Had trusted him and only him with her true identity.

He kissed her with all the passion and fury and anger he could manage, and then all the joy he could as she started responding back. And Jeb had to ask himself what it was that he was doing? What…what was this clench he was feeling, as though his mechanical heart had turned from something cold and dead to something alive and pulsing. Burning. Like someone had lit it with a fuse. A white-hot flare of pure light, shining through his eyelids and-.

White light?

Gasping, Jeb tore himself away, and there stood the woman of his youthful nightmares and his daily distrust. But the tears streaking down her cheeks had been Able's, so Able must have been…

"Azkadellia?"

She gazed at him sadly, recognizing his alternate shock and horror. And the light around her began to dim, like a solar laser shifted out of the sun. And Cain realized several things at once: Able could have been DG's brother in face and form, and no wonder with it really being her sister. And the sorceress had been and always would be tall for a woman, accustomed to wearing tight clothing and stilted shoes. Her embroidery would have to have been the finest, for she was taught by only the finest.

But…but…

_A lamb to the slaughter._

Her hair was short and feathery, just like Able's. Not like the Sorceress Azkadellia. Eyes and face unadorned by makeup. Wearing trousers and tunic; a short Copper's jacket. Boots and short nails bitten down to the quick. A young girl in a woman's body.

"Oh, Az…we've got a lot to talk about."

Through bleary tears, she smiled.

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AN: No sacrilege or blaspheming intended by way of the title. XD The names just popped out at me and I went, 'hey, that would be cool to use.' ^^

The term 'Cop' is an abbreviation for Copper, as Police Officers used to wear uniforms with copper buttons. That's why DG humorously suggests it as the title for the rising generation of young peace keepers. You learn something new every day. ;)

The man who plays Jeb Cain is named Andrew Francis, and is actually an Anime and Cartoon voice actor from Canada. :D He plays Jamie Madrox (multiple man…erm…boy) in X-Men Evolution and Dilandau, a psychotic bad guy of Zero's caliber, from Escaflowne. Rawk. ^_^

Revenants are ghosts that are eeeeeevil. Ones that are violent and either want revenge or are bound by hatred. Yep. ^^;;

Also, I've had this idea swimming around in my head for a while, but I couldn't sit down to write it. So I decided to make it into a one-shot (referring to it in my head as my "Mulan-Shot." XD). I hope you enjoyed it! ^^


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